Average hours worked by British business owners lower than European counterparts
British business owners work fewer hours than their international counterparts, according to a new study.
Figures gathered by small business insurer Hiscox indicate that business owners tend to work 37.6 hours a week on average.
That’s fewer than those in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Spain or The United States, who averaged 41 hours a week.
What’s more, British business owners afford themselves 21.4 days of holiday a year, which was higher than all of the other countries surveyed bar Germany.
Hiscox surveyed 3,000 business owners across these six countries in order to draw up these results. They could make encouraging reading to employees who have thought about running their own businesses or making the decision to start a franchise – after all, working conditions may be better in the UK.
According to bbc.co.uk, the report’s authors concluded: “People set up small businesses for many reasons other than money. They value the freedom, autonomy and lifestyle changes that running their own business can bring.”
The statistics did suggest that British business owners are the most likely to work flexible hours. According to cityam.com, 72 per cent of the Brits polled said they check voicemails whilst away from the office, whilst 71 per cent admitted to networking outside of traditional working hours.